Examples of companies offering this software, inspired by video games and Facebook apps, include Badgeville, Jam, Leaderboarded, NewsGator, Work.com.

Mozilla, makers of the Firefox browser, even has a free, open-source project called Open Badges.

The idea is expected to storm the enterprise by next year. Some 70 percent of the 2,000 largest businesses around the world will be managing at least one “gamified” application or system by 2014, market research firm Gartner predicts.

To be sure, gamification has been overhyped in Silicon Valley, and it can have a gimmicky quality that may turn off employees if done wrong. As a productivity enhancer, it usually flops. The game effect will wear off, management will quit watching the game, and people will go back to their usual work patterns and productivity levels.

But when it comes to employee feedback, gamification is a natural fit. That’s because getting a pat on the back from your boss or coworkers never gets old. Gamification just makes those gestures easier and more public.

If the pat is immediate and visible to the whole company, like a badge on a leaderboard, it’s even more effective than a private thank-you via email.

That’s a concept called “hyperfeedback,” Deloitte consultants Doug Palmer, Steve Lunceford, and Aaron Patton wrote in a report called “The Engagement Economy.”

“Games do not wait to reward you: buildings collapse and make noise, scores increase instantly, and virtual money may even change hands. In real-world scenarios, however, an individual’s action may go totally unnoticed or unrewarded. Adding hyperfeedback to a process can provide the right reward at the right time,” the Deloitte team wrote.

When the employee receives a constant stream of feedback, documented as challenges met or missed, there’s may be no need to sit down for an annual recap. All you need to do is check the leaderboard.